State MP presses for more control around dysfunctional councils

Plans to give the community more
certainty that any dysfunctional council cannot simply be sacked has been
welcomed by the Member for Port Macquarie, Leslie Williams.

Under plans revealed
this week in State Parliament, new laws would give the Minister for Local
Government the power to intervene at an early stage against misbehaving councils
and order local governments to improve or, if that fails, suspend councils for
up to three months.

Leslie Williams said we have seen first hand what happened
to Port Macquarie-Hastings Council and simply sacking a council after a lengthy
and costly public enquiry is not the way it should happen.

"Robbing a community of their democratic right is not
how a council should be reprimanded if they are doing the wrong thing, as was
the case under the previous Labor Government.

"We all saw the impact that the sacking of our council
had on our community and we don't want to go down that road again.

"After almost five years under administration, our
local community has only recently been given its local government voice
back," Mrs Williams said.

The new laws include the power to intervene at an early
stage against dysfunctional councils. The legislation is an improvement over
existing laws, which currently allow only for sacking misbehaving councils
following a lengthy period of dysfunction, expensive public inquiries and
intervention by the Minister and Governor.

"I commend the Liberals & Nationals Government on
these plans which will give the Minister the power to protect the interests of
the community and will provide a strong deterrent against council misbehaviour.

"I look forward to participating in the debate when the
Bill comes before the Parliament," Mrs Williams said.

Under the new laws the Minister or Director General will
have:

Stronger powers to gather
information from councils to identify dysfunction

·New powers to issue an Order to
Improve

·New powers to suspend a council for
up to three months

·More appropriate response to
problems that arise.

The new laws are
part of the Liberals & Nationals integrated program of reforms across the
local government sector.